Cooking appliances, such as electrically-heated grills, typically require a user to remain close to the cooking appliance while cooking. A user must stay near the cooking appliance and cannot leave it for a long time because the user needs to monitor the cooking appliance and a food item placed therein. For example, a user of the cooking appliance has to frequently check the cooking appliance to determine when the cooking appliance reaches an appropriate temperature before placing a food item in the cooking appliance, and whether the food time has been appropriately heated.